Karma
by allyouneedis
Summary: In which Kurt leaves the past in the past, and helps Dave through a rough time. SPOILERS for 3X14. T for mild swearing and referenced violence.


**Reaction fic based on this spoiler photo for 3X14: lockerz. com/s/185638024** **(take out the space)**

oOo

Kurt knocked softly on the door of the hospital room, half hoping that the boy in the bed wouldn't hear him, so he could say he made the effort but, _sorry, you were sleeping_. That didn't happen though. The boy's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at Kurt, an unreadable expression on his bruised face. Slowly, his mouth turned up into a small, sardonic smile, and he waved Kurt over to the chair beside the bed.

"You came to see me." It was a statement, since obviously Kurt was right in front of it, but hidden amongst the spoken words was the unspoken question. _Why_?

He couldn't answer that question, not really, so he responded with a question of his own. "How are you feeling, David?" Kurt asked quietly, settling into the chair and letting his satchel drop to the floor beside him.

The football player shrugged his shoulders, wincing as it aggravated something that was in pain. "Been better."

Kurt bit his trembling lip, looking down to hide the fact that tears were welling in his eyes. This was his fault, and he knew it.

"Hey, don't do that." Dave tried to sit up, but moaned in pain and fell back into the bed. Kurt scooted the chair closer to the bed and took Dave's hand in both of his, and despite the pain, the larger boy smiled faintly. "This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is, I shouldn't have—"

"No, Kurt. It's all me. I'm the one who invited you to the restaurant, I'm the one who confessed my feelings, I'm the one who tried to hide what I was, only for it to come out the worst way possible. Maybe if I had been proud of who I was—like you—instead of trying to deny it, it might have turned out better. I don't know."

"David, you can't think like that. You didn't do anything wrong. Just because you handled things… differently, doesn't make it wrong."

"That's not true, and you know it. I was wrong. What I did to you was wrong. If it makes you feel better, think of it as karma, for all the things I did to you."

Kurt shook his head, tears slowly streaming down his face. "You didn't deserve this. I know you're a good person. You've made some mistakes, everybody has, but I _know_ that you have a good heart."

"Yeah, well, having a good heart didn't stop me from getting the shit kicked out of me."

"They won't get away with this." Kurt couldn't stand the thought of those bullies from Karofsky's new school getting away with trying to beat the gay out of him, after that one guy at BreadstiX found out.

"Yes they will. Just like I got away with tossing you in dumpsters, shoving you in lockers, tossing slushees in your face, threatening you. Hate-kissing you." Karofsky paused for a moment, deciding if he really wanted to say his next words, but chose to continue. "It wasn't a hate kiss, by the way. Even back then, I knew I had feelings for you. I hated myself for loving you, but I took out all of that self-hate on you."

"Please don't do this."

"I love you, Kurt."

"I love Blaine."

"You're better than him, he doesn't deserve you."

"And I suppose you do?"

Kurt wished he could take the comment back as soon as he saw Dave wince in pain, not from his injuries, but from Kurt's cutting words. "I love you," he whispered meekly, as if that was the only thing that mattered.

"_Blaine _loves me. And I love Blaine."

"Do you really? Or is it just because he's the first gay boy you met who was nice to you?"

Kurt snatched his hands away from Dave's as if he'd been burnt. "Don't you dare. I could say the exact same thing to you, David." He stood up, grabbing his bag from the floor and hoisting it onto his shoulder. "This was a bad idea. I should go."

"No! I'm sorry, please don't go." The pleading tone of Dave's voice gave Kurt a pause, and he looked back over his shoulder to see the burly football player in tears. "You're the only person who's come to visit me." It broke Kurt's heart a little, that nobody else had come to see him in the hospital. He stood there, undecided, until Dave seemed to give up, his face crumpling in misery before his large hands covered it, silent sobs shaking his shoulders. That was when it really hit him. No one. No friends, no family. Even Kurt hadn't had to go through that. During the worst that Kurt had to endure, even before he had the whole glee club, he knew he always had his dad, and Mercedes, and even Tina and Artie.

Kurt turned around and sat back down in the chair, pulling Dave's hand away from his face gently and holding it again. He waited for him to compose himself before he spoke. "What about your dad? He seemed… okay with me…"

Dave laughed, dark and humourlessly. "He was fine with _you _being gay, as long as it wasn't his own son. When he found out _why_ they beat me up, he made some lame excuse about going out of town, but I know it's not true. And Z and the boys, they thought I deserved it. Accused me of perving on them in the locker room and shit."

"What about… I thought you made friends… at, umm, the bar."

"Kurt, you saw what kind of people go to Scandals. Guys don't go there to make friends. They go there to hook up. I mean nothing to them, just like they mean nothing to me." Another long pause, but at this point Dave felt he had nothing to lose. "You're it, Kurt. You are the _only_ person who gives a shit about me. And I don't even know why you do."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, as Kurt quietly panicked inside. He didn't know how to do this. He didn't know what to say, how to make this better. He knew better than anybody what Dave was going through, and he knew he wouldn't have got through it without his dad and his friends. And Kurt had to do all of that, be everything, for Dave. Because he couldn't ignore this. He couldn't walk away, and hope that things worked out for the best for him. His thoughts turned to Blaine—for the first time Kurt understood how he must have felt, with Kurt showing up at Dalton, broken and alone—and Kurt realized he didn't have to do this on his own. He would help Dave through this, but he was going to need backup. "Would you mind if I invited a couple other people to come visit you tomorrow?"

Dave looked at him as if he thought Kurt must be going crazy, to think anyone would want to come visit him. "I don't want to see your boyfriend."

"No, I understand." He couldn't blame him. Kurt had hated that Jeremiah guy on the principle that Blaine had a crush on him; he could sympathize with how Dave would feel about Blaine. "How about Santana and Brittany?" Santana's sharp tongue had a way of soothing other wounds with its fierce truthfulness and blunt realism, and Brittany's naïve optimism could make a dragon breathe hearts and rainbows.

"Do you really think they'd come?" Dave asked, and the tentative hopefulness in his voice nearly brought Kurt to tears again.

"Yeah, I think they would. I think a lot of people would care about you, Dave, if you'd let them." Kurt mind started coming up with more possibilities. Maybe his dad could talk to Paul Karofsky, get him to open up. Carole worked at the hospital, he'd make sure she came to see Dave and talk to him once in a while. Finn and Puck used to be friends with him before everything went down, maybe Kurt could convince them to give Dave another chance, since he was. In the meantime, though, Kurt had to leave, because visiting hours were over. "I've got to go now, Dave, but I promise I'll come back to see you tomorrow."

Dave nodded, sad but understanding, as Kurt stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder again, heading towards the door. Just before he walked through, Dave called out to him. "Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For… for being so great."

Kurt shrugged his shoulders, and smiled at Dave. "That's what friends are for."


End file.
